SEBI had issued a circular on December 7, 2018 (‘SBO Circular’), specifying that all listed entities would be required to disclose details pertaining to significant beneficial owners (‘SBOs’), in the prescribed format. The SBO Circular was based on the Companies (Significant Beneficial Owners) Rules, 2018 (‘SBO Rules’), which were amended by the MCA by way of the Companies (Significant Beneficial Owners) Amendment Rules, 2019. Pursuant to the MCA amendment, SEBI issued a circular on March 12, 2019, and amended the SBO Circular.

The key amendments pursuant thereto pertain to the previous requirement of the number and percentage of shares held being required to be disclosed. The format has been amended to require disclosure of the details of shares, voting rights, rights on distributable dividend or any other distribution, exercise of control and exercise of significant influence held by the SBO. A footnote has been added to clarify that if the nature of the holding/ exercise of the right of an SBO falls under multiple categories (as set out above), multiple rows for the same SBO will need to be inserted for each of the categories.

The amendments to the SBO Circular will come into force with effect from the quarter ended June 30, 2019, and will apply to all listed entities that are reporting companies as per the SBO Rules, as amended.